Ebola Hemorrhagic Fever

Pathogen ( generic name, Latin binomial): Ebolavirus. Viral genus (EBOV)

Category: virus

Name of the disease caused by the pathogen: Ebola hemorrhagic Fever

Symptoms of infection: Onset is sudden…consists of fever, headache, joint and muscle pain, sore throat and weakness, followed by diarrhea, vomiting and stomache pain.

Primary Hosts: Fruit bats.

Other Hosts: Plants, anthropods and birds considered as well. Mammals (primates)

Route of Transmission: virus in the air—>fruit bats—> fruit—> gorillas/ chimps eat fruit—> gorillas/ chimps infected—> humans eat bush meat—> humans infected.  Transmitted through body fluids for humans. Non-humans through oral and conjuctiva routes.

Ro: Whenever there is an Ebola outbreak it is considered an epidemic. An epidemic has an Ro value > than 1.

Prevalence: The transmission between natural reserviors and humans is rare. It is an epidemic.  Outbreaks consume the population before it can effectively spread.

Generation Time: The incubation period for Ebola is 2 to 21 days.

Mortality Rate: Very high mortaility rate.  90% in humans.

Morbidity Rate: In the first occurance of 1976 the morbidity rate was 284.

Is it preventable? How? Yes, isolation/ adequate sterilaation techniques

Does the disease trigger long lasting immunity? not really. because it has such a high mortality rate most patients die.

When was the first pathogen described and is there evidence that it was around much earlier than that? the first recorded outbreak was 1976 in the Congo, Ebola river in mission Hospital. Origins unknown, however, researchers believe it is a zoonotic virus and native to Africa.

What is the economic impact of the disease: Found in developing conteries in Africa. The lack of roads and good transporation helps contain the outbreak and keeps it isolated.

The Coolest Thing about Ebola: A really sad fact about Ebola…25% of the world’s gorillas are dead because of it, along with poaching that would kill of all the gorillas.

Citations:

http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dvrd/spb/mnpages/dispages/Fact_Sheets/Ebola_Fact_Booklet.pdf

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ebola